Petraeus mess reminds us we're not as old as we think

Nov. 15, 2012

Cliff Schrader

Written by

MAKING SENSE

Cliff

With the seemingly endless stream of politicians, entertainers, religious leaders, sports stars and now military icons stepping out on their wives, who could argue with Rock?

This time, former CIA Director David Petraeus, long hailed as one of our greatest generals, is entertaining us with his willingness to risk everything for nothing.

The scorecard is quickly growing, but the starting lineup is Petraeus, his mistress, Paula Broadwell, Gen. John Allen, commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, and his girlfriend, Jill Kelley.

Oh, by the way, they’re all married. So they’ve left several children along with their spouses in the line of fire.

Allen denies any affair, but we are told the two of them exchanged from 20,000 to 30,000 emails in a two-year period. That’s about 34 email exchanges each day for two straight years.

With our young men and women in harm’s way, you would think these generals’ attention would have been more focused on life-and-death issues instead of their girl friends.

This entire mess — this scandal, actually — went viral when Kelley went to the FBI claiming Broadwell sent her threatening emails warning Kelley to stay away from Petraeus.

It just goes to show that no matter how much worldly experience we obtain, no matter how old we get or what big shots we become, our emotions and behavior never seem to progress beyond high school. Maybe that’s the reason high school class reunions seem so comfortable.

So here we have it: Two of our highest-ranking military leaders, one in charge of the CIA, charged with our safety and behaving like school kids.

These two married men and their two married girlfriends, with no apparent concern for their families, certainly shed light on one hotly debated issue stoking America’s discourse today.

As Americans hyperventilate about gay marriage threatening the marital institution, the real danger to our most beloved tradition is obviously not from gays, but from those who treat their marriage vows with such disdain.

What we should fear is the weakness of the marriage institution itself. We look upon men who act out as just boys being boys.

Apparently, women are no better.

And don’t kid yourself. As Petraeus and Allen are stroked and protected by the White House, Congress and the media because they are “special people,” the impact on our troops being shot at every day will be troubling.

What should make us cry is the vision of a mother and father standing on the ramp at Andrews Air Force Base as the body of their son or daughter is carried from a plane.

We’ll know that our military leadership was supposed to keep them safe. Instead, they were spending their valuable time and energy as frat boys at a kegger.

Cliff Schrader is a radio columnist on WGRT-FM 102.3. His Friday columns are part of a cooperative agreement between the radio station and the Times Herald. His opinions are not those of the Times Herald or WGRT.